Spitzel

[ˈʃpɪt͡sl̩]

/[ˈʃpɪt͡sl̩]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Spitzel” has 11 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #30,776. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#30,776
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - jemand, der in fremdem Auftrag insgeheim herumspioniert

Corpus desk

Index DE-spitzel · Spitzel · German

Spitzel · rank #30,776 · 11 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,776
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH sozialistisch…

Nearest frequency peer: sozialistischer (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Spitzel“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Spitzel“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Spitzel vs spitzt
57% similar
Spitzel vs Spitzen
86% similar
Spitzel vs Spritze
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Spitzel
PropertyValue
HeadwordSpitzel
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈʃpɪt͡sl̩]
Letters7
Frequency rank#30,776
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Spitzel“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Spitzelliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „sozialistischer“ (#30,775), „Spitzenkandidatin“ (#30,777), „Sozialamt“ (#30,774). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „Spitzel“ bei #30,776. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around Spitzel (IPA [ˈʃpɪt͡sl̩]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #30,776 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "jemand, der in fremdem Auftrag insgeheim herumspioniert".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for Spitzel, with forms such as "psitzel", "siptzel", and "spitezl". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "spitzt", "Spitzen", "Spritze", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Spitzel, spelled S-P-I-T-Z-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemand, der in fremdem Auftrag insgeheim herumspioniert

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Spitzel appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Wie immer in der Diktatur, hatte jeder Angst vor Spitzeln.
  2. Er ist ein Spitzel der Werksleitung.

Synonyms

GeheimagentSpionSchnüffler

Antonyms

vertrauenswürdiger

This word in other languages

spy(English)espía(Español)mouchard(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psitzel
  • siptzel
  • spitezl
  • spittzel
  • spitzell
  • spitzle
  • spitzzel
  • spiztel
  • sppitzel
  • sptizel
  • sspitzel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Spitzel - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

psitzel2siptzel2spitezl2spittzel1spitzell1spitzle2spitzzel1spiztel2
Edit distance from "Spitzel"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Spitzel"?
"Spitzel" is spelled S-P-I-T-Z-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃpɪt͡sl̩].
What does "Spitzel" mean?
As a noun, "Spitzel" means: jemand, der in fremdem Auftrag insgeheim herumspioniert
What words are commonly confused with "Spitzel"?
"Spitzel" is commonly confused with "spitzt", "Spitzen", "Spritze". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Spitzel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Spitzel" is [ˈʃpɪt͡sl̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Spitzel" come from?
"Spitzel" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Spitzel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Stachel#30,784stilles#30,790stoppte#30,793Streits#30,797

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

schütten11 variantsScheffel11 variantsthunder11 variantstimeline11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list